CityU has received a generous donation of HK$1 million from the Spring-Time Group, one of the best-known local drama associations, to support its School of Creative Media (SCM) in setting up scholarships for distinctive mainland undergraduates and to encourage students’ participation in meaningful outreach programmes. This is the first donation the Spring-Time Group has made to a local tertiary institution to foster talented students in media art.

 

In honour of the Group’s substantial contribution to the University in support of student exposure to creative endeavours, the “Spring-Time @ CityU—Donation Ceremony cum Presentation from A Sentimental Journey” was held on 16 March. In addition to the cheque presentation, the ceremony also provided an opportunity for SCM students to exchange ideas with stage artists.

 

Ms Connie Chan Po-chu, Mr To Kwok-wai and Mr Ko Chi-sum, respectively, lead actress, artistic director and producer of the theatre production “A Sentimental Journey”; Professor H K Chang, President of CityU; and Professor James Moy, Dean of CityU’s School of Creative Media, officiated at the ceremony.

 

Professor H K Chang registered his appreciation of the Group’s interest in CityU talent, saying, “The Spring-Time Group, a prestigious drama association, and our SCM students are active in promoting and supporting the development of creative industry. As CityU increases its international exposure, the support of Spring-Time Group in establishing creative media education scholarships will make a positive difference. The scholarships will encourage talented mainland student admissions to our School of Creative Media and support student participation in international exchange and outreach programmes. Please accept our sincere thanks for contributing so generously to creative media education in Hong Kong.”

 

Professor Chang further added, “By allowing our SCM students to integrate creative ideas along with technology into today’s performance of an excerpt from A Sentimental Journey, the Spring-Time Group promotes the development of the creative arts. CityU contines to work closely with the creative industry to explore partnership opportunities.”

 

Founded in 1995, the Spring-Time Group, a leading association in local drama and creative industry, is dedicated to organising local educational drama programmes and overseas tours. Of the HK$1 million donation made to CityU, $800,000 is designated as the “Spring-Time Scholarship for Mainland Students”, recipients of which are to be academically outstanding or talented mainland undergraduates in the School of Creative Media. The remaining $200,000 of the donation is the “Spring-Time Outreach Scholarship”, to be awarded to full-time SCM students in support of their participation in meaningful outreach programmes relevant to their curriculum and career development, such as international festivals and conferences.

 

In recent years, many of the School’s students have received awards in local and international competitions and participated in various creative projects with industry partners. SCM students Choi Tang-yik, Marco Ng Siu-hin and David Cheung Wai-sun, who were given the opportunity to participate in the virtual set production for the dance excerpt “Princess Wencheng entering Tibet” performed at the Donation Ceremony, had been invited by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) to create the 3-D Gee-dor-dor Animation series and clinched the championship in the Cyberport Website Design Competition prior to this.

 

Choi Tang-yik and Marco Ng, undergraduates of the animation stream, took part in generating ideas for the virtual set, while David Cheung of the new media and interactivity stream was in charge of computer programming and image projection.  They integrated Chinese cultural elements with the latest computer technology into the production of a virtual set suited to the dance performance. “Princess Wencheng was a Tang Dynasty character,” Tang-yik and Marco noted, “so we read many references about the history background in order to produce this tailor-made virtual set.” David Cheung’s computer programming synchronized background images with the rhythm of the dance. The audience was impressed with the students’ creative production.

 

The dance excerpt, performed by Miss Perry Chiu and her fellow troupe members, depicts how playwright Mr Tang Disheng came up with ideas for that particular Cantonese opera. In addition to the excerpt presentation, Mr To Kwok Wai, playwright and art director; Ms Tso Po-lin, Dance Arranger and Ms Law Ping, Deputy Costume Designer, shared ideas on the script, dance arrangement and costume design with the audience.

 

CityU’s School of Creative Media, established in 1998, focuses on the training of professionals with cultural awareness and the capacity to integrate theory and practice, technology and the arts.